1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object detecting apparatus with which an object is detected.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an object detecting apparatus to detect presence/absence of an object or a distance to an object has been known. Object detecting apparatuses of various structures have been known.
For example, an object detecting apparatus which performs two-dimensional scanning with a laser beam, selects only a reflected laser beam reflected by a detection object, and acquires distance information related to the detection object based on timing of projecting the laser beam and timing of receiving the reflected laser beam has been known (see, for example, JP 2010-096574 A).
Also, an object detecting apparatus which divides a visual field region, which is forward in a vehicle moving direction, in a right-left direction and performs, for example, presence/absence determination of an obstacle in each of the divided visual field regions when performing presence/absence determination of an obstacle, distance determination, or the like based on a reflected light of a laser beam emitted to the visual field region has been known (see, for example, JP 2894055 B1).
Also, an object detecting apparatus including a rotary polygon mirror, which includes a plurality of reflection surfaces tilt angles of which toward a rotary shaft are different from each other, and a light receiving unit to receive a reflected light of a pulsed light emitted to a forward measurement area from the reflection surfaces has been known (see, for example, JP 3446466 B1).
In an object detecting apparatus, by dividing a visual field region in an up-down direction (vertical direction) when information related to an “object in a short detection distance” and an “object in a long detection distance” is acquired, detection accuracy can be improved.
However, in an object detecting apparatus of each patent literature described above, it is difficult to divide a visual field region in an up-down direction (vertical direction) and to improve resolution of the detection region.
Therefore, there is a need for an object detecting apparatus which can improve resolution of a detection region by dividing a visual field region in an up-down direction (vertical direction).